Conventional board-to-board electrical connectors and electrical connector assemblies are generally used in low-speed transmission applications whereby the amounts of cross talk (both near end and far end) and electromagnetic interference (EMI) are not critical.
However, in recent years, there has been a significant increase in the required data rate (in turn, the required rise time of signals) for several applications. In order to meet this increasing need for high-speed transmission, it is preferable to design electrical connectors and electrical connector assemblies such that these connectors and connector assemblies have superior performance over frequencies in the GHz range. Further, in line with an increasing demand for smaller and more compact devices, sizes of electrical connectors also have to be reduced correspondingly. It is a challenge to improve on the performance of electrical connectors and electrical connector assemblies while providing electrical connectors of sizes which meet certain technical requirements.